Sanskriti 2025: Everyone loves a love story

On the night of April 10, over 200 performers dazzled Big Bridges Auditorium for Claremont Tamasha’s annual Sanskriti performance. The largest student-run dance performance at the 5Cs, Sanskriti celebrates South Asian culture and community on campus.

Every year, the co-heads of Claremont Tamasha — the 5Cs’ Bollywood dance club — create a theme that ties the story and dances together. This year’s theme was “A Claremont Love Story,” a romance between a South Indian Pitzer College girl and a Pakistani Claremont McKenna College boy.

The two-hour performance featured around 15 dances and one solo intermission performance. Dances ranged between hip hop, Bhangra, Pakistani, South Indian, classical and more. 

Dancers from each school performed a dance representing their home campus as part of the love story. Harvey Mudd College performed “Introducing the Groom,” CMC showcased “Love at First Sight,” Scripps College performed “The Bachelorette Party,” Pomona College performed “Sangeet” (a pre-wedding celebration) and Pitzer performed “Baaraat” (a wedding procession for the groom).

Claremont Tamasha’s co-presidents, Aru Warrier PZ ’25, Suhasini Singh PO ’25 and Siya Bhola PZ ’25, were excited that this year’s theme tied together 5C students.

According to Warrier, the love story was inspired by Bollywood movie plots, many of which center around love stories, especially in movies from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“It’s an epic tale about ‘love triumphs all,’ a common theme in South Asian movies,” Warrier said. “So this love story between two people, whose families conventionally would not want them to be together, we thought was representative of how not all our dancers are South Asian.”

Singh noted that having a love story theme would also keep the audience engaged and interested.

“We thought that everyone loves a love story and it would be really fun to showcase some of our culture through a love story,” Singh said. “It just makes things more interesting to watch rather than just watching a series of dances one after the other.”

Reina Bhatkuly HM ’25, one of the choreographers of the show, reflected on the choreography process as a fun and playful environment. Bhatkuly choreographed HMC’s dance and Garba, a traditional Indian dance commonly performed at festivals or other special occasions.

“Usually, we try to cater things to the lyrics and also to the varied dance experiences that we have because we’re not a competitive dance club,” Bhatkuly said. “For the school dances, we try to make them more simple and easier to follow along. For Garba, you have to be more intentional with your steps because there’s a lot more clapping and jumping around.”

Another part of the choreography process that Bhatkuly appreciated was the supportive environment she has been a part of for at least three years at Claremont Tamasha.

Singh similarly noted that this sense of support includes welcoming dancers who come from differing backgrounds and levels of training.

“I hope that seeing all the dancers fumble and jumble and still have a good time teaches everyone that you don’t need any training to just have a good time,” she said.

Audience member and previous Sanskriti MC Shalini Shyam Kumar SC ’25 said that she enjoyed watching her friends dance and appreciated the feeling of home that Tamasha provides.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” Kumar said. “I’ve attended Sanskriti every year, whether performing or, like this time, as part of the audience. Beyond supporting my friends, it’s such a comforting reminder of home. It’s always heartwarming to celebrate South Asian music and culture right here in Claremont.”

For Bhatkuly, too, Tamasha has been a place to find home and connection on campus.

“Tamasha was that one constant that I had at the 5Cs that, regardless of the year I was in, they were always there and I could count on people always being welcoming, supportive and super fun and loving,” she said. “Tamasha is a piece of home that you carry with you.”